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Magic and Science? It’s my dream come true! When it comes to magic there are two distinct teams. One team cheers for hard magic systems, such as what’s found in Brandon Sanderson’s books, where there are clear rules and limitations. The opposing team cheers for soft or undefined magic, such as what’s found in The Lord of the Rings, where there are no limitations and those who use it are shrouded in mystery. Which team will win? Easy – the team you like the best!

Today we welcome my favorite mad scientist author and board game enthusiast to the blog. Ryan Decaria is going to try to win points for Team Hard Magic in his article about magic systems and mad science. Cue the lightning! Muah ah ah!

My mantra when writing science fiction and fantasy worlds is to treat magic like a science and to treat science like magic.

I’m gonna let that sink in for a minute.

Magic comes in two varieties: magic systems with rules and undefined magic. Brandon Sanderson is famous for the former in his Cosmere novels. Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings is a great example of the later. Who knows what powerful spell he’s going to come up with next. Still, in either methodology, magic can be seen as a part of that world’s natural laws.

Like any other natural force, magic can be studied, classified, and theorized about. The scientific method can be applied, because the cause and effects can be scrutinized. I’m going to say it again. Treat magic in your story as a science field of that world.

Now, your characters will probably not be scientist studying that magic (cept how cool is that), so they won’t necessarily care to use science or science terminology when wielding magic. I don’t think about gravity or how my internal combustion engine gets me to work. I just drive.

I came up with a great litmus test for your fantasy’s magic system. Let’s call it the Mad Scientist Experiment. For your magic system, imagine a mad scientist character living in your world who is trying to use the magic in new way by combining aspects or segments of your magic in unnatural ways. This can be the Frankenstein scientist, driven by the desire to create, the Doc Brown scientist, eccentric but good-hearted, or the nefarious scientist like Doctor Poison from Wonder Woman.

Does your magic have enough meat for them to operate? Can they create life? Can they seek immortality? What are the costs? What are their methods.

If you can’t answer any of these questions, perhaps you haven’t given your magic system enough depth. Answering these questions, might give your magic system a needed boost.

Here are some examples of great mad scientists in epic fantasy with mild spoilers:

Saruman from Lord of the Rings

Focused on industry at the expense of the natural world

Breed a new species of orc

Created great forges and explosives

Became obsessed with power

Ex-maester Qyburn of A Song of Ice and Fire

Anatomical experimentation on still-living people.

Excellent surgeon or a Torture Technician

Created a Frankenstein-like creature

The Lord Ruler in Mistborn (spoilers in this one get a little meatier)

Found a way to gain immortality

Created new races and the inquisitors

Changed the natural laws of the planet

Combined two kinds of magic to great effect

But what about science fiction?

There are two kinds of science fiction: One cares about how the science works and the other cares about how the science affects the world.

In the first, science knowledge is at a premium, and you better get it right. In the latter, the science just works and no one is questioning why. Take hyperspace in Star Wars or transporters in Star Trek. The more you dig into the science, the more preposterous they sound, so you don’t dig into the science. You avoid the science because it just works and your story is about what that technology does to society and to people.

You treat it like magic.

I love the term handwavium because it describes the science in terms of magic. Handwavium is what powers unrealistic or impossible technology, such as faster-than-light travel, teleportation, and artificial gravity.

In conclusion, to create a rich and deep magic system, imagine how a scientist would study the magic and how a mad scientist would exploit it. You might discover a few plot points and a couple of awesome characters along the way.

Remember my mantra:

When writing science fiction and fantasy worlds, treat magic like a science and science like magic.

My favorite mad scientist author, Ryan Decaria

About today’s guest:

Ryan Decaria was raised on science fiction and fantasy novels and 80’s adventure movies. On rainy days, he sulks on the window, sill waiting for a treasure map, an alien buddy, and his own luck dragon. Ryan is the author of Devil in the Microscope and its soon to be release sequel, We Shall Be Monsters. He is also the host of the Meeple Nation podcast where he discusses the board game world. You can find him at madsciencefiction.com musing about how mad science uses the best bits of science fiction and fantasy at the same time.

Connect with Ryan:

Ryan’s Book: Devil in the Microscope

Bonus points if you can spot the rat in the picture!

When “science-fair-geek” Anika goes to live with her scientist father in a town built around his mysterious genetics laboratory, she is determined to prove herself worthy of his legacy. But all preconceptions about her new life are thrown out the window when Anika discovers her father is a megalomaniac living in a town populated entirely by mad scientists. Now Anika will have to navigate her way through a high school filled with vindictive evil geniuses, deadly science projects, and unspeakable human experimentation. Relying on her wits, scientific know-how, and talented allies, Anika fights for her very life, and the lives of her new friends. Will Anika have to become like her mad scientist father in order to save the day?

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It’s Friday, which means I get to bring you samples, interviews, and articles from new voices around the world. Today, I have a special treat for you. Friend and fellow author, Nicholas Adams, has given me permission to share the first chapter of his novella “Imprint” a hard sci-fi with a medical twist.

In return, I got to go have fun and answer interview questions on his blog. Go here to check it out.

Cover of Imprint

First Chapter Sample of Imprint, a Novella

From under the spider web of
fractured reflections, the older man’s image steepled his fingertips. “Now that
you’ve gotten that out of your system, would you mind repositioning me so I can
see you clearly?”

Malcolm sighed, defeated. He swiped
a finger across the broken glass. The floating
screen glided across the mirror’s surface to rest within the last unblemished
area.

“Now
that we’ve gotten that out of the way,” the man in the mirror glowered
over his thick-lensed glasses, “let me remind you of the conditions of your
exile.”

Malcolm braced himself for the full
version of the warden’s favorite speech. “Your prior technological breakthrough
caused the outbreak,” he began as if reading from a teleprompter, “and in spite of your synthetic organs’ success in
treating life-threatening illnesses–,”

“You mean lifestyle threatening
illnesses,” Malcolm interjected.

The warden interlocked his fingers
and lowered them onto the black marble desktop, clearing his throat in
frustration. “Be that as it may, it was your flawed technology that caused the
disease that now threatens to wipe out humanity. And therefore, having been
charged with attempted genocide, you have been isolated above the Arctic Circle
because you promised the world you could fix this.”

Malcolm pounded his bruised
knuckles against the lavatory’s cold, metal countertop. “I know, I know! But I
need more time. And Cynthiana is the only remaining test subject. All the
others died before I could make the bio-synthetic interface work. There are
just too many variables. But, I think I’m getting closer. I just need more
time!”

The Warden glanced somewhere
off-screen and nodded to his unseen associate. “Time is not something of which
you have an abundance. Get to work Doctor. We’ll be looking forward to your
next progress report.”

The Warden leaned over to press the
button that would end their video-call but paused with his arm hanging in the
air. “If you don’t have something significant to report,” he said not looking
at Malcolm, “I’m afraid I’ll have to recommend that your exile will end, and
we’ll begin the proceedings to schedule your execution.”

Malcolm slammed both palms on the
broken mirror. “But, my wife’s condition. She’s terminal. You’ll be sentencing
her to death too!”

“No, Doctor Silvestra, you’ve
already done that.”

Before Malcolm could respond the
warden’s image blinked out of existence, leaving him alone with only his
anguished thoughts.

It’s
all my fault. I’ve killed her. I’ve killed them all.

Malcolm’s shoulders quaked, as
stifled tears dripped into the stainless steel sink. The flood of anguish
pressing against the emotional dam broke through.

I
can’t lose her. I just can’t. The rest of the planet be damned, but I can’t lose her.

Staring past his reflection,
Malcolm spotted the ornately framed award hanging over his cluttered workbench.
His stomach twisted. Several years before, when he received the plaque, he felt
only pride and achievement.

Now, however, the image only served
to remind him of his failure to keep a promise to Cynthiana; to completely
restore her health, or, at least, free from her scars and debilitating pain.

Lettering under the bas-relief
sculpture seemed to mock him. His eyes scanned the plaque, landing on the
keywords that seemed to highlight his failure. Life Sciences Award, Innovative
Breakthrough, Synthetic Organ Replacement.

The fancy words reminded him of his
triumph—the 3D Nano-Modeling machine that built other devices on a microscopic
level. Building on his wife’s work in Neural-Mapping, together they developed
artificial organs that could mimic its
natural functions.

Newspaper clippings covering his
wall displayed headlines from around the globe. Phrases like Miracle, Saves the Life, and Cure for
Death seemed to stand out like random street lamps in a darkened city.

Other news articles littering the
wall reminded him of what he now fought against; a plague of biblical
proportions. Headlines reading Mystery, Deadly, Burn Victims, and Horrific
glared at him. The mainstream media sensationalized the outbreak by calling it The Scald.

Malcolm seemed to be the only one
who actually understood where the plague
came from; his Nano-modeler, v.8.14.

Long before he saw the correlation
between his machine and the outbreak, The Scald had already sentenced anyone
with an artificial organ to a slow, painful death.

With his newest Nano-modeler,
v.10.27, Malcolm began his exile, with
Cynthiana and a dozen dying volunteers at
a self-sufficient research bunker in the Northwest Territories.

The collapse of civilization seemed
to take only a matter of weeks.
Accusations of bio-warfare crossed every known geographic and political border
until the truth of Malcolm’s plague became public knowledge.

Riots, looting, and doomsday
prophets littered the streets around the world. Malcolm barely got Cynthiana
and himself to the bunker before the bombs fell, dooming the planet in a
nuclear winter.

However, how the world ended no
longer mattered to him. Not since The Scald ravaged his wife. Not even the
failed experiments and deaths of the other subjects made an impact on him.

Cynthiana’s body yielded to the
lesions faster than any recorded case, forcing her to remain in a pool of
bio-nutrient gel 24 hours a day. The Scald had inflicted a rare side effect on
her; three-quarters of her body became paralyzed and unresponsive to any
stimuli.

Malcolm could not help flashing back to the days before The Scald took away her independence.

About today’s guest:

Nicholas Adams grew up in the small, rural town of Boring, OR with his six brothers and sisters.

After graduating from High School in Gresham, OR he attended BYU-ID and received his Associates Degree in Pre-Med. From there he returned to Portland, OR and attended Portland State University where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Biology/Pre-Med before changing his career track to Architecture.

He completed his second Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture at Portland State University before going on to achieve his Master of Architecture Degree from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, UT.

After his graduation he and his wife moved to the Phoenix Arizona area where they adopted four children over the next eight years.

Nicholas currently lives in the Salt Lake City area where he is an Associate member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the League of Utah Writers.

For every single person the path leading to fulfillment and success looks different. Some prefer small consistent goals, some crave the big marathon push, and then there’s Jared Quan. Known around the Utah writing community as the guy who gets stuff done (and never sleeps), he often shares his favorite quote:

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

Jared is the champion of volunteering. Every year he donates countless hours, well into the hundreds, giving his time, his ideas, and his drive to the organizations he loves. Today, he shares his story with us.

I Rolled a Life Changing 20 and You Can Too.

By: Jared Quan

Four years ago, my second book “Changing Wax” was published.
I had accomplished my lifelong dream, and no one had any idea who I was.
Getting published was a massive struggle that took nine years to happen, and I
was exhausted. Antsy to do something, but not ready to take on another book, I
had an epiphany. I would use my knowledge and experience to make it my mission
to help people achieve their dreams. I had no idea what that single decision
would lead to.

After talking it through with my wife and we figured out
that I could volunteer a couple hours a week. I went out looking for ways to get
involved. Which was not nearly as easy as it sounded. I stumbled into my first
opportunity after taking a shot in the dark and emailing the Mayor of West
Jordan. Mayor Rolfe recommend that I join the West Jordan Arts Council. Shortly
after I was appointed to the West Jordan Arts Council by the West Jordan city
council. Serving on the Literary Committee under an amazing Literary Arts Chair
John Pulver, I started to learn the ropes on how to do more in the community.

At the exact same time this was happening I met Johnny
Worthen who recommend that I check out the League of Utah Writers. During my
very first meeting with the Oquirrh Chapter it was announced by Chapter
President Eliza Crosby that they needed a new Vice President, after a massive
internal debate (and texts from my wife encouraging me to volunteer), I
volunteered. Under Eliza, I was starting to learn about how the League worked
and what things I could do to help.

I worked on a few projects with the Arts Council and the
League which embolden me to find some additional small projects. I volunteered
to help author David Armstrong at the Davis County Fair, volunteered to help acclaimed
artist Roger Whiting at the DIY Festival, helped staff the League table at LTUE
and Storymakers. I started to figure out how much time I could spend on
projects and started to figure out how to better utilize the resources I have
access to.

Fast forward to today, after dozens and dozens of projects,
and events, I am now on five non-profit boards (League of Utah Writers,
Storymakers, Cultural Arts Society of West Jordan, Eagle Mountain Arts
Alliance, and Big World Network), I work four jobs (VLCM, Lyft, Real Salt Lake,
and being an author), and spend time with my wife and five kids. My mission
transformed into a passion, and then into a dream. I get to help people every
day reach their dreams.

As you can see, I didn’t get into volunteering to gain
position or rewards other than seeing people succeed. However, I discovered
that volunteering selflessly was like rolling a 20-sided dice over and over.
The number would randomly throw unexpected rewards. The key being that the service
had to be selfless.

Like a waking dream I found myself sitting in front of
hundreds of people at the LTUE conference 2019. I was sitting off to the side
waiting for my turn to be a special guest with the Writing Excuses Podcast. I
had rolled a 20, and I was being honored with a tremendous opportunity. I knew
however, that even in this moment, it wasn’t about me, it was an opportunity to
help others find ways to figure out what I had found out.

I watch as special guest Natasha Ence and Rosalyn Collings
Eves, do an amazing job on the podcast. Then it was my turn to sit with the
amazing team of Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells, Mary Robinette Kowal, and Howard
Tayler. We talked about volunteering and ways to find opportunities to
volunteer. It was amazing.

When people had found out that I had selected to be on
Writing Excuses, everyone asked how I had accomplished such a thing. I told
people that I wasn’t sure, but I was honored to have such an opportunity, and
talk about selflessly volunteering.

Everyday I wake up and live my dream of helping people. If you add the goal, mission or passion of helping people by volunteering (not just in the writing community), you will be rolling a 20 side dice that will change your life. It will help you accomplish amazing things and give you opportunities beyond your imagination. I have to thank all the amazing people for giving me the chance to volunteer and taking a chance on me. You just have to take a chance on yourself and volunteer. I would love to see you out there.

Intrepid leader and Energizer bunny, Jared Quan

About today’s guest –

Jared Quan is a video game addict and writer published in genres from Spy-Thriller to Horror/Supernatural, to Fantasy-Comedy. His work includes Ezekial’s Gun, Changing Wax, Classified, Pathological Passion, (Futuristic/Romance/Steampunk, which he co-wrote with his wife), Unclassified, and Prepped (a story in the Apocalypse Utah anthology).

He has extensively served the community in roles from the President for the League of Utah Writers, Board Member of the Cultural Arts Society of West Jordan, Grants Director of the Eagle Mountain Arts Alliance, Executive Director of Big World Network, Chair of the West Jordan Arts Council, serving on the Utah Poet Laureate Selection Committee, Recruiting Chair of the Association of IT Professional Utah Chapter, as well as serving as a general volunteer for countless events and organizations.

Jared was given the Gold Volunteer Service Award by the President of the United States for his over 1,500 hours of service to the writing community from 2015 to 2017. He has also received recognition and awards from the Governor and Lt. Governor of Utah for his volunteering.

He lives in Eagle Mountain with his supportive wife and five children.

Want to connect? It’s easy!

About Jared’s Book, Changing Wax

Changing Wax is an action adventure comedy, taking place in the fantasy world of Wax, which resides just seven hundred sixty-two thousand, five hundred twenty-two million and five light years from Earth (give or take half a light year depending on Earth’s rotation). Wax revolves around rules established in the ancient Master Book of Magic, rules that don’t always follow basic logic or sanity. The story follows three adventurers: Gorath the misfortunate monk who can’t seem to get anything right, Odd Drip the Imp who is too smart for his own good, and Thomas Twostead, a teenage girl born on the wrong side of Wax’s never-ending war between Light and Dark. In the end, their teaming up might decide the fate of the world, while seemingly defying the will of the Master Book of Magic. Or are they…?

New Anthology Release!

Tales of wise, ancient dragons hoarding treasure, terrorizing villages, and doing battle with noble heroes have long fascinated us. But dragons were not born old and wise, nor were heroes born brave and noble.Wings of Change gathers tales of young dragons growing into their scales and claws, and human youths making choices that shape their destinies – destinies that will be forever changed by their interaction with the dragons that share their world.

My story “Saffron Dragon” is about a blind Bangladeshi girl who discovers a dragon lives in her dreams. She must learn to both trust herself and the dragon to find her place in the world.

Today I’m thrilled to share a sneak peak into the world of fantasy writer Robin Glassey. Robin and I have known each other for years and she has been a wonderful cheerleader for local Utah authors. You can always spot her at events in her trademark bright pink shirts and sweaters.

I still remember what it was like to be a teen—that struggle for acceptance, that yearning to identify with a group, to feel loved. In The Azetha Series, Tika searches for love and acceptance outside of herself. Because of her mixed heritage, however, both the Human and Elven societies reject her. Only when she finally looks inward and accepts herself does she reach her full potential. The most important message I hope readers come away with is to love and accept themselves for who they are.

What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your books?

One of the most surprising things I learned as I wrote was how certain scenes continued to touch me emotionally as I reread them. It’s like when you have a favorite movie that you’ll watch for the 50th time and you can’t help but laugh or cry at the same spots. For me, it’s Pride and Prejudice with Keira Knightley. You know you’ve hit the right emotional notes when a character has you laughing or crying no matter how many times you read the same lines.

Who is your favorite character you’ve created, and why?

Eno is a talking lizard who first appears in The Veil of Death as Tika’s guide through an inescapable swamp. I love Eno because he’s flawed, and yet, completely lovable. Frankly, he’s the worst guide to have. He can’t shut up, he’ll abandon you at the first sign of trouble, and he’ll lead you in the wrong direction just for the sake of finding the tastiest bugs.

What projects are you currently working on?

I have several projects I’m working on but the one that’s closest to completion is a tips and tools book for writers with ADHD. This book will teach writers with ADHD how to increase their writing productivity and give them tips on how to complete more projects. Many of my fans have also expressed an interest in reading about some of the side characters from The Azetha Series. So, I’m working on telling the fire Elemental Neala’s story.

The always fabulous, and always pink, Robin Glassey

About Robin Glassey

Robin grew up in Eastern Canada in a small town across the bay from a leaky nuclear power plant, giving her the not so secret power of deactivating electronic devices. She moved to Utah in 1994 to attend BYU and fell hopelessly in love with Brett Glassey (despite his refusal to fall in love with BYU).

Robin graduated with a degree in Psychology and now spends her time analyzing her four teenage boys and writing clean YA fantasy. She’s addicted to Diet Coke, french fries, and Doctor Who. When all of her addictions collide at the same time, she’s in heaven.

Connect with Robin:

Check out Robin’s Azetha Series

About the Azetha Series:

Fans of Jeff Wheeler, Jennifer Neilson’s False Prince, Emily King, Michelle Madow, and Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time Series will enjoy this epic teen and young adult fantasy series about a princess who discovers the startling secret behind her heritage.

As a Rhodean princess, Tika is destined for nothing more than to dress in stuffy gowns, dance with stuffy princes, and attend stuffy events. But Tika isn’t like the other princesses on Fathara. With her wild hair, Elven-like ears, and her penchant for causing trouble, Tika does her best to escape her royal duties.

But when Tika discovers she’s more than Human, with surprising Elven and Elemental abilities, her life is turned upside down. With the truth about her heritage revealed, she’s forced to go on the run, hunted by a cunning sorcerer’s assassins and magical creatures.

Now the life Tika had so desperately wanted to escape she desperately wishes she could have back again.

Epic YA Fantasy author Robin Glassey transports readers to the magical land of Fathara where Death walks the land with a happy grin, having a conversation with the Intelligences is never a good thing, and where an encounter with a Sha’andari is hazardous to your health.

If you love epic YA fantasy, elemental, or princess series, then be sure to follow Tika’s full adventures in The Azetha Series.

Artists and creatives, including writers, come in all different varieties. Some are organized. Some work fast. Some like to follow their muse all over the place. Some have unique rituals they follow. What we all have in common is a passion for creating our own unique form of art.

Holli Anderson, friend and Chief Editor at Immortal Works Press, is here to talk about what it’s like to be an author with a chaotic creative mindset, and to give us a tour of her creative space.

The talented and amazing Holli Anderson

Inside the Head of a Writer

By Holli Anderson

Hi! I’m so happy to be a guest here on Jodi’s blog! I’ll
start with a short introduction. My name is Holli Anderson, I write YA and MG
under this name that happens to be my real name. I write Adult Romantic
Suspense under the name H.L. Anderson – which is my real name using initials…

Besides being an author, I’m also a mom to four grown boys,
a grandma to a girl (who is nine and a half and can’t wait until she turns
eleven and receives her Hogwarts letter – because I am that awesome of a grandma) and a boy (age five, and whose sister
and I are indoctrinating into an HP lover as well), a wife to one man-boy, a
registered nurse, and Chief Editor of a small publishing company. The reason I
tell you all this is; it might help explain why my mind is in such continual
chaos.

Now, back to my head. My brain is always running a million
miles an hour in a gazillion different directions. It can sometimes be
difficult to grab an idea out of this pandemonium—that’s why I know, when I
latch onto an idea that shines brighter than the rest, it must be a GREAT idea.
That’s when the plethora of notebooks I keep hanging around come in handy,
they’re where I write these GREAT ideas down (moment of truth here: they aren’t
always GREAT ideas, sometimes they turn out to be GROAN-WORTHY ideas when I go
back and look at them later).

There have been times when I’ve been somewhere I can’t write
an idea down – like driving, or in the shower – during these times of immense
duress I have to resort to repeating the idea over and over in my mind until I
can get to where I can safely (and dryly) write it down. The book I’m working
on right now was one such GREAT idea. My husband knows this is what’s happening
when I burst through the door after work and show him the palm of my hand as I
frantically dig through my backpack to grab a notebook and pencil (yes
pencil—all GREAT ideas must be written in pencil).

(FYI—as I was writing the above paragraph a FOX ran down the
sidewalk across the street and partially into a neighbor’s yard before taking
off the way it had come. I had to run
outside to tell my husband and son, who are changing brakes on a car—and they didn’t believe me!)

This is getting a little longer than I had planned, but I
need to explain one more thing about this author’s head. EVERYTHING around me,
every trip to the store, every date with my husband, every walk around the
neighborhood—everything—can be turned into something to do with Harry Potter,
Supernatural, LOTR, or The Avengers. EVERTYTHING. Drives my husband crazy. How many
times he’s said to me, “You know that isn’t real, right?”

That’s when I mumble “Muggle” under my breath and continue
on.

The pictures scattered throughout this blog are pictures of
my office/library. I think they help explain my head to you. This is the room
that calms me. Makes me smile. Helps me write. It’s my favorite room in the
house.

People are like books, containing journeys, adventures, and hidden turns. Today’s post is about the journey of a young entrepreneur working to make the world of reading a little bit brighter.

Rae was kind enough to help me with my book launch last year and I finally got around to thanking her formally and letting her share her voice here on my blog. Go check out the awesome post she did for me on her website.

Within the Pages

by Rae

I could start off from the very beginning of my book
journey with my grandma’s reading challenge the summer before high school. I
could continue with my plunge into writing and fanfiction and the overwhelming
consuming of the #feels that come with author admiration, character boyfriends,
and more. From there I can spin my web of story telling to encompass my writing
journey at college and all that I did there – successes and mishaps. Following
college my writing took a nose dive into a pill of forgotten story ideas while
my blog burped under my relentless pursuit of being a book blogger and becoming
a part of a community I admired and feared. And yet, where am I now?

You see, everything that has happened has shaped me into
who I am today – a freelance editor with a young business, a reader buried
under her TBR list, and a writer struggling to type a sentence while ignoring
the imposter that whispers in both ears. Let’s not even go into the MFA rant
because believe me…it’s complicated.

From a book challenge till now as I type this, has
been intense, scary, beautiful, heartbreaking, and ironic. I tried so long to
ignore my voice, ignore the stories…and still books brought me home.

Now it might sound corny, but bear with me here. As a
reader we all have at least one book that sticks with us. You know exactly what
I mean. That book that haunts you from the shelf, that sneaks into your dreams
or daydreams, that influences an action when you find yourself floundering to
react in a situation. Then of course there are the book boyfriends and idols we
all want to be but can’t figure out how to find them within ourselves or others.
But I digress here.

Each one of my roles – editor, reader, writer – all
lead me back to the story, the words on the page that entice me to tears,
provoke me into a rage, that shield me from reality when life gets too
unbearable. I look for the book that doesn’t let me go, that I suffer through a
book hangover for days trying to pick up the pieces and connect the what if
this or that had happened. I look for the book that glares at me from my shelf
and I glare back because how did it get so far under my skin? I need the happy
ending. I need the realistic ending. I need the ending where it is such a cliff
hanger that I want to hook up a bungee cord and make the leap because I know
the story has got to be continuing.

As an editor I want to help that story grow and be
ready to face the world.

As a reader I want my reviews to shower reflection and
insight.

As a writer I want my story to leave an impact of some
kind.

Will it be pretty? No. Will it be perfect and loved by
all? Nope.

But that is the beauty of it. Writing is messy. Books are messy. Being a fangirl, reviewer, bookstagrammer, editor, and so on is messy. Take the good and the bad and go with it. That next book is waiting for you. Go find it or go better yet – write it.

About today’s guest –

Rae is a writing and reading instructor at an elementary school by day, freelance editor by night, and fangirl at every other available opportunity. She always knew books were her passion, well after her grandmother’s challenge to read a book a day, and obtained her B.A. in English with a concentration in Creative Writing from Arcadia University. Currently, she’s drowning in her TBR list, deciding on whether or not to go for her MFA, outlining her would be novel, and expanding her freelancing business while looking for more bookish things to get involved with. She is active on Twitter, Instagram, and sometimes Facebook when she remembers.

Rae offers freelance editing!

A New Look On Books is a professional freelance editing service that aims to get manuscripts ready for querying and publication.

A testimonial about her services –

“Rae’s sample edit exceeded my expectations. To say that her instincts were spot-on is an understatement. She immediately “got” my characters, had a sense of where I was going, and offered suggestions that immediately tightened up my manuscript. If you’re searching for a qualified and passionate editor who will challenge you to make your book better, look no further.”

— R. Bazylak @bazlactica

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Posting a full review here feels way too much like tooting my own horn, but today’s review is special. Last Friday, my oldest son job shadowed me as I went about my day as an author. He learned about free writing, work/life balance, drafting, and marketing.

Watching an author work is awkward for the author and boring for the watcher. The best way to experience what any job is like is to try it. And … since he is my perfect target audience and has already read my book, teaching him how to write a book review was the ideal exercise to learn how to draft out a new project. Even better, he’s thrilled to have his work published here on the blog.

Here’s his review of my book, which is it’s own special kind of adorable.

Stonebearer’s Betrayal Book Review

by Timothy Milner

Stonebearers Betrayal is a fantasy book about a girl named Katira and her friends who get wrapped up in this adventure featuring magic, demons, travel stones, magic stones, an alternate reality, and a creepy old guy who kidnaps her for a couple days. Not as creepy as it sounds, just a bit creepy.

Though there’s a bit of bias in this statement, I love this book. The sense of adventure and danger really puts this book in a special category, so much so that some would call it a “underrated masterpiece.” Stonebearer’s Betrayal does a magnificent job at conveying emotions. It makes you feel like they’re going to die or feel like she’ll never escape.

I’m not sure about what I don’t like about this book, other than the fact that some of the concepts are a bit creepy. Although I didn’t really like the creepiness factor, I’m sure that others would. It makes the main villain feel even more powerful and demonic.

In stories, it’s usually very important to make the villain feel powerful, make it look like the odds for success are low. You don’t want a story with a wimpy villain, right? If the villain is easily defeated and the heroes go home to celebrate, then there isn’t much story to begin with, especially at the climax. And this is what Stonebearer’s Betrayal does very well.

I’d rate it for people 13+, because anyone below that won’t really understand or respect it. I’m not sure what it’s similar to, I want to say it’s a bit similar to Eragon by Christopher Paolini, but I’m not sure.

About today’s reviewer –

Timothy Milner is a 13-year-old who is way too mature for his age, but nonetheless, he likes to nuke things from orbit, design TNT machine guns, and die to the goddamn triple spike at 53%. Did he mention he was a gamer?

Do you like dragons? Good news! I’m working on several dragon projects at the moment. Two of these are short stories that will appear in anthologies and one is a middle grade novel that I’m co-writing with friend and fellow Immortal Works author, Daniel Swenson.

Written as part research, and part fun, check out my article “Symbology of Dragons” I wrote for Amy Beatty about the significance of dragons in different cultures around the world.

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Probably one of the most frustrating thing I hear about fantasy authors is the belief that we make everything up. We come up with a world, stick people in it, add a touch of magic, and voila! Fantasy story. The end.

The truth is, we actually do a fair amount of research. Precise details can bring a sense of realism to our fantastical worlds and often we take vital cues from already existing cultures and beliefs.

Today, Amy Beatty wants to discuss just that – the importance of research in all writing, including fantasy.

Researching the
Daydream

by Amy Beatty

All fiction is a shared daydream. Whether a story’s setting
is modern day Chicago, Paris during the Second World War, Edo period Japan, or
a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, the writer invites readers to enter
a world that is different in some ways from their own—a mentally constructed
virtual reality.

And the number one rule for the fiction writer is:

Don’t break the daydream.

Imagine signing up for a much-needed vacation to an exotic retreat, where you’re sure to meet fascinating new people and participate in thrilling adventures. You buy the ticket, board the plane, and make friends with the person in the seat next to you. With a roar of engines and a stomach-clenching lurch, the plane takes off, climbing into the sky. A flight attendant wheels her cart of goodies down the aisle in your direction. Delicious smells fill the cabin—it’s not just peanuts this time! Your mouth waters in anticipation.

Abruptly, everything erupts in a flash of static and disappears.

“Sorry,” says some broom-wielding dude in the corner. “I tripped over the cord. Also, your mother-in-law is coming over, and your kid is wearing your underwear on his head again.”

Boom. There you are, dumped straight back into your own reality without so much as a by-your-leave.

How rude!

That’s what it’s like when the author breaks the daydream
for a reader.

And that’s why good research is so important for writers—the
daydream is only fun when it’s convincing and immersive. Details make all the
difference. But a writer can only write
about what the writer knows about.

Wait. Fantasy writers don’t have to do research, do they?
They can just make everything up. It’s fantasy, after all; anything could happen.

But when something happens in a fantasy story that breaks
the established rules of its fantasy reality, it jolts the reader in the same
way as when a realistic story breaks the established rules of the real world.

As a result, researching for fantasy is, in some ways,
actually more complicated than researching for realistic fiction.

For realistic fiction, an author only needs to do enough
research to determine whether a specific technology (for example) really does
(or did historically) indeed exist in the time and place in which the story is
set. For fantasy, however, the writer must determine whether it’s plausible that the technology in
question could exist in the time and place of the story, given the context of everything else that has already been established about
the world of the story.

For example, some technologies can only be developed after the
technologies used to make their component parts have been invented. Are all the
necessary component technologies present in the world? Also, if a technology is
being utilized in one aspect of a society, it will almost certainly show up in
others. A civilization that uses steam-powered tanks to achieve world
domination will be more convincing if it also employs steam powered water pumps
and agricultural equipment.

One fantasy book I read used specific ethnic groups and
place-names to indicate that the setting was an alternate version of early
medieval Europe. Then, in the middle of the story, the characters casually sat
down to a dinner that included turkey and potatoes. For me, this broke the
daydream because both of these items originate in the New World, which would
not yet have been discovered at the time in which the story was set.

This could have been fixed in one of two ways. First, the
author could have mentioned in passing at some point before the meal that a new
land had been discovered across the sea (placing it earlier in the fictional
history than it occurred in real history). Alternately, and probably more
appropriately for this story, the author could have simply substituted similar
foods that would have been available in the time and place the author had
chosen, such as goose and turnips. But as it was, the discrepancy between the
established milieu and the items that didn’t fit that milieu was jarring, and
it took me a while to get back into the story.

By contrast, in another book, set in an alternate version of
modern-day London, a wizard and his apprentice toss a hand grenade into the
basement of a suburban home in order to eliminate vampires who have taken up
residence. The author’s careful description of the label on the grenade is a
potent detail that not only raises the tension and augments the sense of
immersion, but also helps convince the reader that if the author got the details
right on the hand grenades, he’s probably also right about the vampires.

An author who is striving for a realistic setting for a
story needs to make sure that what happens in the story conforms to the reality
with which the reader is familiar.

Likewise, an author who works toward a plausible fantasy
setting needs first to convey to the reader the parameters of the story’s
virtual reality, and then the author is under the same obligation to make the
story conform with that established reality.

In either case, a lot of research can be necessary. Because
the number one rule for the fiction writer is:

Don’t break the daydream.

The Marvelous Amy Beatty

About Amy
Beatty

Amy Beatty grew up in the wilds of Yellowstone National Park
as part of an experiment in crossing the genes of a respected research
biologist with those of a grammar aficionado. She spent her summers making
forts under the sagebrush with her friends and catching garter snakes by the
creek to populate elaborate sandbox villages—or holed up in her bunk bed
exploring the exotic worlds hidden between the covers of books.

She currently lives in Utah with her husband and their two
delightfully unconventional children. For fun, she likes to cut big pieces of
cloth into small pieces of cloth and then sew them together again. Several of
her quilt projects have been exhibited in juried shows at a local art museum.

Amy’s Book, Dragon Ascending

Edrik, son of the murdered Drake regent, never gained his
dragon magic and cannot shapeshift into his dragon form. Unfit to marry his
love, the Princess Lissara, Edrik embarks on a dangerous mission to prove
himself worthy. He seeks Lissara’s missing father, the dragon king, before an
enemy usurps the throne.

Unfortunately, the search for the king brings Edrik to a
dungeon located in human territory. Inside the prison, Edrik discovers the
missing king, whose captors are unaware of his true identity. Edrik must rely
on a grubby young dungeon keeper to help them escape without disclosing that
his companion is the dragon king. But the dungeon keeper has a secret identity
as well, one that will change Edrik’s destiny forever.

Be sure to check out the Fantasy and Sci-fi Reader’s Lounge Feb 6-9th where dozens of YA authors will be sharing about their work and giving away books and prizes. Yours truly will be featured on Feb 7th from 11-12am EST (9-10am MST)

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Every single one of us has that one friend who hates things with an unusual passion. You know the one – and if you don’t, it might be you. The conversation will start with a casual discussion about the most recent movies they’ve seen and the next thing you know, they are ranting about some aspect of the show that you frankly could care less about.

This is a toxic fan – and James Wymore isn’t one of them. Trust me. He’s got opinions a plenty about recent reincarnations of certain franchises, but he also has that wonderful thing called perspective. As an author who has solved the puzzles and fought to find what makes his fans happy, he gets it.

Toxic Fans and How Not to be One

by James Wymore

I can’t count how many times over the years I’ve had
somebody tell me how awful the Star Wars prequel trilogy is. At conferences,
during convention panels, over pizza, at family gatherings, and so many times
on social media. They are generally nice people, with notable exceptions. I
just can’t figure out why they have taken it upon themselves to actively
campaign against a nearly twenty-year old movie in a franchise they claim to
love. What is it they hope to gain?

So I started engaging some of these folks in conversations,
to find out what about those movies caused them so much irritation that they
would publicly proselyte against them.

The responses varied, of course. Some became defensive, as
if they couldn’t understand why anybody would have to justify such an obvious
opinion. Others broke down into lists of reasons, some I suspect were
regurgitated from online or other sources. The last group just increased their
vitriol, adding emotional weight to their claims. The only common thread I
could find was that each of them felt it should have been done differently.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but it takes a lot of
self confidence to believe you could imagine or produce a better movie than the
franchise’s original creator, writer, and director.

I wrote this off as people being people and didn’t let it
upset my own enjoyment of those movies. However, over time, the anger and
animosity toward Star Wars creators grew exponentially when Disney bought the franchise
and began making new movies. Abrams managed to make most of the fans moderately
happy with episode 7. Rogue One caused a new division. Then waves of social
hate rose up to actively protest episode 8. And I can’t even explain why so
much anger was aimed at Solo.

Disney responded by cancelling all the spin-offs. Then they
changed their mind and cancelled everything after episode 9 (which had a year
left before it even came out). Way to go, whiners, you got Star Wars put on
permanent hiatus. You literally killed the thing you claimed to love. Even if
it wasn’t what you wanted, did you have to ruin it for everybody else? If you
couldn’t have the movies of your imagination, does that mean the rest of us
shouldn’t have any either?

If you like something, great. If you don’t like it, that’s
okay. But why the hate? Why the need to actively tear it down? Did it ever
occur to you that you could just leave peacefully and let the rest of us enjoy
it?

Fandom has grown toxic.

We all need a little
more zen in our media consumption. Rather than lashing out when you’re
disappointed, maybe a better strategy would be to just watch what you like and
don’t watch what you don’t. Are you getting paid to review movies? Have you
been inducted into the posse to protect innocent citizens from bad media? Did
the “fix the franchise” crusaders make you their missionary?

Trust the market. If people don’t like something, they won’t
buy tickets and the company will lose money. That’s the only feedback they
really listen to anyway. If you don’t like the new Ghostbusters, don’t watch
it. But be cool. Don’t go after the company and start spreading negativity.
Offer people the dignity of deciding what they want. And be secure enough to
not like something without rage.

Creating a hostile environment just ruins it for everybody.
In the end, isn’t it supposed to be about entertainment and fun? If not, maybe
you should reevaluate why you are emotionally invested in it. If so, then
making it toxic is counter-productive.

Peace.

The real James Wymore

About James Wymore

Growing up on a steady diet of Spider-man cartoons and television shows like Batman and Wonder Woman, James Wymore knew he would someday find his own super power and join the fight for justice. He did everything right, from experimenting with arson to jumping from great heights, but his ability to control fire or fly never kicked in.

As
he went past the teenage years, he accepted that he probably didn’t have a
hidden mutant power waiting to manifest. Neither would he uncover any
unexplained alien origins, so he threw himself into searching for enhancements
designed to bring his latent abilities to the surface. He travelled the world
studying arcane magic. Throughout college, he experimented with volatile
chemicals, extreme temperatures, lasers, and various forms of radiation.

Eventually, he discovered the power of hypnosis through fantastic stories. He plunged into writing, filling his work with the subtle triggers that would allow him to one day take control of all his readers’ minds and use them as an army to conquer the literary world. Until that day, he works tirelessly to create more and better books. Follow his progress at http://jameswymore.wordpress.com

Book Soon to be Released

Thug #1

Superheroes and villains constantly
battle for control of Denver, Colorado, so somebody has to do the heavy
lifting. CJ Cruz found his niche working for whichever super-flavor-of-the-day
happens to be running the show at the time. Since most of the self-labeled
heroes claiming to be on the side of justice don’t hire henchmen, he usually
winds up doing the street-level work for supers operating outside the law. His
family and priest just think he’s a gangster, but CJ knows his motivation is
pure. He keeps on the windy side of law enforcement by following a few simple
rules, the first of which is keep your head down and never be the boss’s
right-hand man. People tell him
he should get a new job, but he likes working around supers. Besides, except
for intimidation and roughing-people-up he doesn’t have any other skills necessary
to make rent and pay child support.

“Thug #1 is a fast-paced, action-packed book written in comic book style. The artwork is amazing, too!”

Holli Anderson, author of Myrikal

Theocracide – newly released in audiobook!

Theocracide

In the future, everybody wears computer glasses that scan the
world and project whatever you want to see right in front of it. Through
perfected augmented reality, the buildings and people blend seamlessly into
whatever movie or video game is running. We all see whatever we want, all the
time. Nobody cares what clothes they wear, because the rest of the world sees
them as pirates, robots, or anything that suits their current media. Even the
cars are self-driving, because nobody wants to pause the streaming feed.

In other news, the world is under attack by aliens. Disease is
decimating the human population. A man takes over America and declares himself
to be a god.

Nobody cares, so long as they don’t turn off the wi-fi.

Jason Hunt has the perfect life. A scholarship university
athlete with an amazing girlfriend, his future couldn’t be brighter. Then his
father drops a few family secrets on him—

Secrets of treason and heresy, which put him in direct
conflict with the reigning Theocrat.

“Wymore weaves a fantastic tale while taking a good hard look at religion, politics, immortality, entertainment, and technological advancement. If you’re looking for a thrilling sci-fi adventure that beautifully mirrors current real-world issues and advancements then this is the book for you.”

Andrew Buckley (Author, Hair in All the Wrong Places)

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There are very few lessons more powerful than those encouraging people to continually seek improvement and to be their best selves. Today’s guest, Mike Thayer, is a shining example of just that. He’s chosen to live fearlessly and reach for his dreams. He’s come to share a powerful message – why showing is so much more powerful than telling.

Show Don’t Tell – For Literature and Life

You get a lot of writing advice as an author. Murder your darlings, avoid adverbs, shun passive voice. The most oft repeated advice, however, has got to be “show, don’t tell.” It’s one of the simplest to understand and yet hardest to consistently apply. It’s also one of the most powerful when done right.

Don’t just tell me that the house is spooky, show me the house is spooky and I’ll arrive at any and all necessary conclusions myself. Talk of the disembodied whispers, the creaking floorboards, the apparitions that only appear in your peripheral vision. If you’ve done it well, I won’t just understand that the house is spooky, I’ll feel it, I’ll see it in my mind, and I’ll share the experience with others. By showing we unlock the true power storytelling, we tap into the essence of why we’re writing in the first place: to transport someone to a different world or see through the eyes of another person.

The power of “show, don’t tell” extends beyond the literary world, however. It isn’t just the way we should write. It’s a way we should live. If you’ve wronged someone, don’t just tell them that your sorry, show them. If you care for someone , don’t just tell them that you love them, show them. If you want to help the sick, dispossessed, and persecuted, if you want to exercise and eat healthy, if you want to learn to play an instrument or write a novel, then don’t just tell yourself or tell the world. Show it.

If you do it well enough you probably won’t even need to tell the world, because we will see it and we will feel it. Talking about something is easy, but I was always told that talk was cheap. After writing a few novels I think I understand that phrase better than ever. Do more than talk. Do more than tell. Show.

About today’s guest:

He has cast a ring on the slopes of Mt. Doom, eaten a feast at the Green Dragon Inn, cemented Excalibur in a sandstone block, tasted butter beer at Diagon Alley, built a secret door to his storage room, and written a fantasy novel. What else is left, really?

The Epic Adventures of the Techno Wizard: The Uncharted Lands

Rebellion against the Emperor of Avalon grows as rumors spread of the Collector’s defeat at the hands of the Techno Wizard. Sam Shelton and his friends now seek powerful new allies as they travel to the Great Rampart of the Uncharted Lands – a towering, armored wall built for a single purpose: to keep the citizens of the Wildland Kingdom on one side and the foulest monsters in all of Avalon on the other.

Something, however, is not right in the Uncharted Lands. The attacks on the wall grow fiercer, more frequent, more coordinated and Sam’s drone catches a glimpse of an evil long-forgotten.

Can Sam and his friends convince the Queen of the Wildland Kingdom to fight the emperor or does a slumbering threat pose an even greater risk?

You can buy your own copy of The Epic Adventures of the Techno Wizard: The Uncharted Lands on Amazon and also iTunes,Nook, and Kobo.

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